Beyond Full-Circle
by Misbehavin
Summary: Post 2.09. A glimpse into the future and the present.


**Beyond Full-Circle**

A couple minutes into the last big break of the night, MacKenzie found herself alone at the anchor desk. After hours of chaos and being on her feet, it was a relief to sit and have a few moments of peace to review her notes for the remainder of the broadcast. However, as she began to read, the light from one of the set's spotlights shone on her hand, causing the ring on her finger to sparkle. In an instant, her thoughts were captured by the past.

She had no idea much time had passed before she felt tender arms around her while at the same time the voice she loved best whispered from behind, "Penny for your thoughts."

She sighed and gestured to her right. "I was just reliving what happened in that corner over there the last time we did this."

"Our own D-Day with Will McAvoy at his smoothest," he joked. "If that moment had been caught on tape, I'd be permanently unemployable like Dantana."

She smiled, too, and leaned back even more into him. She felt the night's tension dissipate as he began to knead the muscles in her shoulders and back. She couldn't resent Jerry Dantana anymore and neither could Will. Genoa, which caused such heartache and despair, was ultimately the catalyst that brought them reconciliation and redemption. It was responsible for their present and their future—for contentment and joy that may never have been possible without it.

"It was adorably frantic," she agreed, "what with that cockamamie story and all. But you got the most important things right: 'I'm irrevocably in love with you,' and 'Will you marry me?' That was all I ever needed to hear."

"Even you have to admit that first kiss was far from memorable."

"It was breathtaking, you silly man," she told him. "Any awkwardness was my fault. It took me a minute to grasp fully that I had the freedom to touch you again, though it was pure bliss just to be back in your arms. Besides, you were at a complete disadvantage, considering that you were holding a quarter of a million dollars in one hand and two small but unwieldy boxes in the other."

He laughed. "I should have just chucked the damn boxes. That moment definitely taught me how important hands are to the art of seduction."

She shook her head. "It wasn't your hands. It was the sincerity in your eyes and the sheer relief in your voice when you said, 'Thank God.'"

He gave her a squeeze while bending his head to place a soft kiss at the base of her neck. Then he moved around so they were talking face to face, his eyes demanding her undivided attention. "Tell me the truth. If we could go back and do that time again, would you change anything? I know I should have waited—made it more special. But once I realized what a prideful, hurtful, unforgiving fool I'd been, I couldn't wait a single minute to try and make it up to you. I had to be with you. I had to have you know."

She reached out to him and ran her fingers through his hair, all the while maintaining complete eye contact. "It was perfect. I wouldn't change a thing."

"Including three minutes later when I made the unilateral decision to introduce you to the entire newsroom and ACN ownership as the future Mrs. MacKenzie Morgan McHale McAvoy and I bungled even that?"

She playfully tapped his nose. "Especially then," she informed him. Her tone became thoughtful, however, when she added, "Will, as surprised and momentarily embarrassed as I was, I loved that moment. It gave me the confidence to believe. You would never put yourself out there like that unless you were absolutely certain about us and about our future. I needed that…."

"Me, too. I needed witnesses—lots and lots of witnesses—to keep you from getting cold feet."

"You're hysterical." She rolled her eyes.

"Honestly… I was just so damned happy that I couldn't help myself. And I still feel that way."

"Me, too." It was only at this point that MacKenzie's brain registered that he was wearing jeans and a V-neck sweater. "What are you doing? We're back on the air in less than five minutes. Seriously, Billy, sometimes what goes on in that formidable brain of yours completely baffles me."

Calmly he replied, "I changed because we are going home."

"Going home? It's barely eleven. The polls have just closed on the West Coast."

"And Don, Elliot, Sloan, Taylor and Jim are totally prepared to cover the West Coast."

"What are you talking about? This isn't the plan. You're the face of ACN. Get back in your office and change your clothes, then get your ass back in your chair. You can't…."

He shook his head. "Oh, but I can. I'm also the Managing Editor. And you are wrong. This is the plan—for the past four months or so anyway. It's just not your plan. For obvious reasons—like pig-headedness, you have been kept in the dark."

"I'm going to ignore that jab because there's no way Charlie…."

"Charlie has been in on this from the beginning. He's in complete agreement. So can we please go home, Mrs. McAvoy?"

"It's the most important night of the year. It's why we do what we do…."

"It's the Mid-Terms, honey. We're not electing a president."

"But still…."

He bent down with his elbows and forearms on the desk, his eyes directly even with her own. "MacKenzie, you are dead on your feet. I have been understanding, and I haven't nagged. But I really think that tonight you should just do everything I say."

His words and his subsequent smile melted her resistance. That he could even joke about something she said on the night his father died spoke volumes to her about how much he had healed during the past two years—healed enough to embark willingly with her on life's biggest roller coaster in a few, short months. "Okay. You win," she gracefully conceded.

"Good." He leaned over and kissed her before lending a supporting hand as she stood. As they walked out of the studio he added, "I promise I will take the best care of you."

He was as good as his word. He fed her. He bathed her. And he showed genuine surprise and delight when he got lucky. Afterwards, they lay in each other's arms in quiet reverie with only a small lamp and the city around them lighting the room. Her thoughts again drifted back two years. She gazed up at him. "Will?"

He, too, shifted positions to make eye contact.

"I'm so grateful the boy stopped shredding paper."

He chuckled but said earnestly, "I just hope our sons are a lot smarter than I am." He tenderly caressed her belly and was rewarded with a swift kick directed at the palm of his hand. She was five-months pregnant and they had recently learned they were adding to the planet's male population.

"That's impossible because you _are_ the smartest," she told him. "But I do understand. Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. Liam and Jamie will be brilliant in the best ways possible. Do you know why?"

He shook his head.

"Because, Will McAvoy, they have you as their father. And you are the best man I know."

**Author's Note: **I am grateful for the Muse whenever she arrives-even at 4 a.m. I only wish she would visit more frequently and at more opportune moments. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. Feedback is always appreciated. I, for one, thought the show's real proposal and aftermath were sheer delight and I've had "Let My Love Open the Door" playing incessantly (and now quite annoyingly) in my head ever since. Mac


End file.
